It is recognized by a golfer that on the putting green, accurate propulsion of the ball to and into the hole requires a sense of touch and feel. The desire of the golfer to maximize the touch and feel necessary to control accurately the direction of the ball movement and the distance of the ball movement on the putting green has led to literally hundreds of putter shapes and designs. The various shapes and designs have included putters having heads with an increased mass to increase the distance of ball travel with a short backswing; localization and balancing of the mass in the putter head to improve directional accuracy; decreased mass in the putter head to provide increased accuracy, and the use of a striking face made of rubber or plastic material to impart a sense of feel and touch while controlling the rebound characteristics of the ball when struck with the rubber or plastic face of the putter.
The various putter designs and striking faces of different shapes and weights have experienced a mixed degree of success. However, U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,638 discloses a golf putter having a soft elastomeric face, with the elastomer having a hardness of at least 70 Durometer A and a hardness below the hardness of a golf ball. Additionally, the elastomer has a resiliency sufficient to cause a golf ball, after penetrating into the elastomeric face, to rebound a distance equal to or greater than the distance that a golf ball will rebound when stroked with an equivalent force with a metal face putter. This putter, because of the soft face with its unique characteristics, provides excellent touch and feel, contributing to greater control of direction and distance of a stroked golf ball. The putter of the present invention is a further improvement over the putters of the '638 patent.